Yawning and sneezing
Question
In a hadith I heard when a person sneezes Allah becomes happy with him and when a person yawns Satan becomes happy with him. From this hadith can I predict that when Allah is happy with a person, he makes him sneeze and when he is not happy, he makes him yawn; since these actions are natural (done by Allah) and no human can do it by himself?
Answer
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
الجواب حامدا ومصليا ومسلما
The explanation stated for the aforementioned hadith is incorrect. Merely sneezing and yawning is not a sign of Allah’s pleasure or wrath. Rather, good is attributed towards Allah while evil is attributed towards Shaytaan. After sneezing one feels a kind of relaxation, therefore it is attributed to Allah. Yawning usually indicates laziness, which pleases Shaytaan. Hence, it is attributed to him.
والله اعلم
Allah Knows best.
Approved by: Mufti Husain Ahmad Madani